About
Aalok Shrivastav is an Indian poet, lyricist and journalist born on 30 December 1971 in Shajapur, Madhya Pradesh. Holding an MA in Hindi, he began composing poetry in the mid-1990s and has since become one of the most recognisable contemporary voices in Hindi ghazal and nazm. His debut collection Aameen (Rajkamal Prakashan, 2007) became a bestseller and earned him the Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Akademi's Dushyant Kumar Award as well as the International Pushkin Award from Russia, making him the youngest Indian to receive the latter honour. A second poetry collection, Aasaan, and a story collection, Aafreen (2012), followed from the same publisher. His verses have been rendered by some of the most distinguished names in Indian music, including the late ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh, Pankaj Udhas, Shubha Mudgal, Shankar Mahadevan, Malini Awasthi, Kailash Kher and Amitabh Bachchan. As a film lyricist, his credits include Patang: The Kite (2011), the National Award-winning Can't Take This Shit Anymore, Vodka Diaries and Atkan Chatkan (2020), presented by A.R. Rahman. He has worked as a senior television journalist with Aaj Tak, India TV and Doordarshan for nearly two decades, and has edited four anthologies of Urdu poetry.
Aalok Shrivastav grew up in Madhya Pradesh and pursued a postgraduate degree in Hindi before embarking on dual careers in literature and broadcast journalism. He began writing ghazals in 1995 and built an audience through mushairas and kavi sammelans across India, developing a reputation for verse that balances classical Urdu-Hindi poetic form with emotional immediacy and contemporary sensibility. His debut collection Aameen, published by Rajkamal Prakashan in 2007, set a high watermark: a ghazal anthology exploring human values and relationships, it drew recognition from the Madhya Pradesh Sahitya Akademi and the Russian government, which awarded him the International Pushkin Award in 2011. That same year, his lyrics featured in Anoushka Shankar's album Traveller, issued by Deutsche Grammophon and nominated for a Grammy Award. His literary footprint extended to Indian cinema, with songs for the Indo-American film Patang: The Kite (directed by Prashant Bhargava, 2011), the National Award-winning documentary Can't Take This Shit Anymore (directed by Vinod Kapri), and Atkan Chatkan (2020), a ZEE5 musical drama presented by A.R. Rahman. Two solo albums, Eternal (with ghazal singer Jaswinder Singh) and Noor (with Sudeep Banerji), each received the IIMA Best Album of the Year award. His Hindi translations of Shiv Tandav Stotra and Rudrashtakam, recited by actor Ashutosh Rana, became widely circulated. Shrivastav has performed at literary events in more than twenty countries, including the Vishwa Hindi Sammelan in New York and a felicitation at the House of Commons, London, by Katha UK. He continues to write, perform and broadcast from Mumbai.
The artistry
Aalok Shrivastav works primarily in the ghazal and nazm traditions, composing in both Hindi and Urdu. His verse is known for its accessibility within classical form: he uses the conventional ghazal structure of radif, qafia and maqta while writing in a modern idiom that speaks to love, aspiration, loss and social observation. Critics note that his poetry achieves emotional directness without sacrificing linguistic precision, a balance that has made his work attractive to both literary readers and classical musicians seeking concert-ready material. His film lyrics retain that same quality of controlled emotional register, avoiding melodrama while sustaining mood across a song. He has also translated Sanskrit devotional compositions into Hindi, demonstrating range beyond the Urdu-inflected ghazal mainstream.
Repertoire
Performance
Publications & productions
Career & milestones
Festivals & appearances
Lineage & training
Recognition
In the press
Affiliations
Beyond the stage
Television journalism - Worked as a senior journalist with Aaj Tak, India TV and Doordarshan for nearly two decades; continues to engage with media and public affairs
Sanskrit and devotional literature - Translated the Shiv Tandav Stotra and Rudrashtakam from Sanskrit into Hindi verse, extending his practice beyond the Urdu-Hindi ghazal mainstream
Urdu poetry editing and preservation - Has edited four anthologies of Urdu poetry by established poets, contributing to archival and curatorial work in the tradition
Gallery
Shrivastav is a genuinely cross-domain figure: published poet, film lyricist, Urdu anthology editor and television journalist, all active simultaneously rather than sequentially. His principal moat is the roster of musicians who have performed his work, which includes some of the most commercially significant names in Indian classical and semi-classical music. For programmers, this means his name carries instant credibility in ghazal-literate audiences. The platform should note the Anoushka Shankar connection carefully: his role was as a lyricist providing Hindi translations for that project, not as a primary credited songwriter on the album, so claims should be scoped accordingly.
Aalok Shrivastav represents a significant strand in contemporary Hindi poetry: the practitioner who moves fluently between the mushaira circuit, the literary publishing house and the film industry without compromising the formal integrity of classical poetic forms. His work has kept the ghazal accessible to younger audiences at a time when the form's mainstream listenership has contracted, in part because his verses have been carried into popular culture by some of the most respected voices in Indian music. The International Pushkin Award, the Dushyant Kumar Award and his felicitation at the House of Commons collectively signal recognition that extends well beyond domestic literary circles. His parallel journalism career has also given him a platform to speak about Hindi and Urdu literary culture to mass-media audiences.